Technology, Lifestyle and Consumer World
Technology and lifestyle are inter-connected in our time. Electronics designs which keep pace with changing lifestyle drive the growth in consumer electronics market. Meanwhile, as technology advances, our lifestyles evolve in one way or another.

Consumers nowadays embrace innovative technology development quickly. As product cycle of consumer electronics shortens, technology is rapidly replaced by newer and better ones. With the open attitude of consumers towards new products, electronics market moves on at unprecedented speed. The large-scale and quick introduction to a wide range of lifestyle electronics, such as home audio equipment, home theatre systems, etc. deepened and widened the growth of global consumer electronics.

Simplicity in operation and user-friendly interface are also vital for any consumer electronics to be popular to the mass market. From MP3 players to DVD recorders, consumers prefer products with clear indication and just a few keys but offer the widest range of functions and greatest pleasure.

Modern Life is Digital Life
The digital era has dawned. Digital technology is now the key factor driving the growth in consumer electronics market. As consumer-originated digital data and other digital contents are widely and readily available, digital solutions are closely connected to our daily lives.

The trend for digital entertainment is moving towards three major points: more personal, more interactive and more social. Consumers want to do things across multiple devices and easily exchange data with others. Connectivity is hence the key to the modern age digital electronics market. Vendors continue to launch compact-sized, smart-looking and convergent consumer electronics, such as all-in-one music systems, mobile phones packed with multi-functions, etc.

One of the obvious trends in the consumer electronics world is the unification of consumer electronics products with IP-enabled semiconductors and computers. For example, Samsung digital cameras have already adopted converged functionality such as PMP and MP3.

Connectivity Boosts Consumer Electronics Market
Home audio is undergoing a lot of innovations, thanks to faster internet connectivity, internet-exclusive entertainment, high-speed data streaming and sophisticated equipment for music storage. On the other hand, the MP3 player market is largely benefited from the rising number of online content distribution sources, readily accessible inexpensive contents and broadband internet connections that conveniently download larger files.

DVD recorders enjoy sturdy growth as it has become the standard video recording device for the home. As internet video contents move from PC-centric now, to the popularity of direct access to internet videos with TVs and set top boxes, sales of DVD recorders and other related video electronics will surge even further. It is expected that advanced HD and Blu-ray DVD players will eventually grow to be among the largest segments of internet-connected devices. Nevertheless, the inclusion of internet interface across TVs, DVD equipment and set-top boxes is not only gateways to internet but also enables sharing of digital videos, music and images among devices within the home.

Market Prospect for IP-Enabled Electronics Devices
In 2007, over 60 million IP-enabled consumer electronics devices have been shipped into the market. As consumer electronics vendors gradually add IP connectivity across a broad array of equipment, it is anticipated that by 2012, over 217 million internet-enabled consumer electronics will be shipping annually and network interface semiconductors will grow to nearly $2.5 billion.

Videogame consoles currently constitute the largest percentage of IP-enabled devices and the trend is likely to continue. Already there are more than 5 million consumers playing videogames over the web. However, internet-connected consoles are now beyond gaming in the eyes of vendors, as other peripheral purchases such as digital music, etc. is going to be a market with huge potential.

There are multiple connectivity choices available, including wired Ethernet, 802.11/WiFi, coax and powerline. Where the low-cost wired Ethernet will continue to be most popular interface, Wi-Fi will be a hot choice for consumer electronics vendors and consumers. According to a study by ABI Research, the total number of Wi-Fi enabled CE devices will grow from just 40 million shipped in 2006 to nearly 249 million in 2011.

There are already lots of digital electronics with embedded Wi-Fi available in the market and the trend is likely to grow. Portable gaming consoles such as Nintendo and Sony have equipped the latest generation devices with Wi-Fi for multiplayer and online gaming while the new Zune from Microsoft signals the trend shifting towards embedded Wi-Fi portable media players. Camera vendors such as Nikon, Kodak and Canon have all embraced Wi-Fi and even line-powered devices are expected with high attach rates for Wi-Fi.